1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the lubricating and conditioning of textile fibers, and more particularly to a polyalphaolefin emulsion therefor.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Finishing compositions are generally applied fibers to improve the subsequent handling and processing of the fibers. Fiber finishes play a very important role by assisting the fiber producer to manufacture the product, and enabling the fiber producer's customers to carry out the required yarn and fabric manufacturing processes to obtain the end product. The composition and amount of finish composition applied depend in large measure upon the nature, i.e., the chemical composition of the fiber, the particular stage in the processing of the fiber, and the end use under consideration.
For example, compositions referred to as "spin finishes" are usually applied to textile fibers after extrusion. These or other finishes which may be applied to yarn prior to knitting or winding, and to fiber tows prior to or at the time of crimping, drying, cutting, drawing, roving, and spinning, or to staple fibers prior to carding, i.e., web formation, and subsequent textile operations such as yarn manufacture or preparation of nonwoven webs are commonly called secondary or over-finishes. Such finishes provide lubrication, prevent static build-up, and afford a slight cohesion between adjacent fibers.
The application of such finishes is generally accomplished by contacting a fiber tow or yarn with a solution or an emulsion comprising at least one lubricant having antistatic properties. Wetting agents, additives such as antioxidants, biocides, anti-corrosion agents, pH control agents, as well as emulsifiers are also commonly found in such finish mixtures. Finish compositions can also be applied to tow, yarn, or cut staple by spraying.
Acceptable finishes must fulfill a number of requirements in addition to providing desired lubricating and antistatic effects. For example, they should be easy to apply (and to remove if desired), they should have good thermal and chemical stability, they should not adversely affect the physical or chemical properties of the fibers to which they are applied and they should aid the subsequent processes to which the treated fibers are subjected, they should not leave residues on surfaces or cause toxic fumes or undesirable odors, they should provide for rapid wetting of fiber surfaces, they should be water-soluble or emulsifiable or solvent-soluble, they should have good storage stability, they should be compatible with sizes, nonwoven binders and other fiber treatments, they should not attract soil or cause color changes to the fibers, they should not interact with frictional elements used in texturizing and they should not be corrosive to machine parts.
Of the numerous compositions which have been proposed as fiber finishes, some of the more noteworthy may be found in the following prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,617 discloses a finish for acrylic fiber consisting of an alkyl phenol ethoxylated with 40 to 200 moles of ethylene oxide, an amine salt of hydrogenated tallow alcohol phosphate, and a mixture of mineral oil, an ethoxylated aliphatic monohydric alcohol, and the amine-neutralized reaction product of an ethoxylated aliphatic monohydric alcohol phosphate. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,450 relates to a finish composition for synthetic fibers such as polyamides and polyesters, consisting essentially of a lubricant selected from a mono- or diester of an aliphatic carboxylic acid with a monohydric aliphatic alcohol, or a refined mineral, animal or vegetable oil; an emulsifier containing up to 50 moles of alkylene oxide per mole of ester, alcohol, or amide wherein the reactive hydroxyl sites of the emulsifiers contain deactivating and cap groups; and an alkali salt of a dialkyl sulfosuccinic acid. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,371 is directed to a finish for the texturing of partially oriented polyester yarn wherein the composition has a pH of at least 10, and comprises an oil-in-water emulsion wherein the oil phase constitutes 2 to 25 weight percent of the emulsion. The oil phase comprises a lubricant selected from mineral oils, alkyl esters, glycerides, silicone oils, waxes, paraffins, naphthenic and polyolefinic lubricants, glycols, glycol esters, and alkoxylated glycol esters. The emulsifiers employed include soaps, glycerol fatty acid esters, sorbitan and polyoxyethylene sorbitan esters, polyglycerol esters, polyoxyethylene esters or ethers, polyoxyethylene polyol ether esters, polyoxyethylene amines and amides, partial polyol ester ethoxylates, sulfated vegetable oils, sulfonated hydrocarbons, and the like.
However, because of their non-polar nature, polyalphaolefins have traditionally been difficult to emulsify in order to provide aqueous emulsions which possess the stability and other requirements for utility as fiber and textile finishes.
Regardless of the efficacy of the aforementioned and many similar compositions, finishes are often found wanting in certain important aspects, viz., their employment such as in staple fiber processing ordinarily results in one or a combination of the following undesirable conditions: (a) physical properties unacceptable for satisfactory fiber processing under a wide range of conditions; (b) heavy dust and card fallout; (c) substantial deposits on rolls and metal parts of drawing, roving, and spinning equipment, and (d) nonuniformity in the drawing of the sliver, as evidenced by the presence of thick and thin regions therein which are subsequently found in yarn spun therefrom. Further, in processing continuous filament yarns it would be desirable to reduce the fiber to metal friction and provide improved stretching, texturizing, winding and knitting properties thereto.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art and provide the afore-noted desired advantages.